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Workplace Violence Toolkit

In the News

The following media articles appeared during 2017.


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New details shed light on how mentally ill man was arrested with gun at N.S. Hospital

January 2017. A stakeholder working group on health care facility safety is expected to release their report borne out of a potentially violent incident last October at Soldiers’ Memorial Hospital in Middleton. CBC News

Report calls for safety and security assessments of all community ERs

January 2017. New report to improve health care workplace safety has released twelve recommendations, following a potential violence incident last October at Middleton Hospital. CBC News

Man pulled out gun, shot himself at B.C. hospital ER, nurses’ union says

January 2017. British Columbia Nurses’ Union says staff at a hospital in Grand Forks are traumatized after a man shot himself in an emergency room. Vancouver Sun

Violent incidents nearly double in the RQHR

February 2017. To combat an increasing number of aggressive incidents involving staff and patients, the Regina Qu’Appelle Health Region is prioritizing a violence prevention program in its business plan for the next year. Regina Leader-Post

Employer fined 70k for failure to comply with workplace violence, harassment requirements: first publicly reported case of its kind

Article by Jeremy Warning in Canadian Occupational Safety. February 2017. An Ontario employer has been fined $87,500 after being convicted of failing to comply with seven Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) orders issued to bring the company into compliance with workplace violence and harassment requirements. The Safety Standard

Health care workers suffer ‘epidemic of violence’

March 2017. Ontario Council of Hospital Unions president demands the province take action to protect health care workers from the threats health care workers confront on the job daily. Toronto Star

Purple rings in Manitoba hospitals will warn health care workers of potentially violent patients

March 2017. ‘There was a real problem… with violence against nurses,’ says Manitoba Nurses Union president. Health care workers across Manitoba are relying on two purple rings to warn them of potential danger at work. CBC News

31% of violent workplace injuries in B.C. involve nurses

April 2017. On average, 26 B.C. nurses suffer a violent injury at work every month, and nurses account for 31% of reported workplace injuries from acts of violence in B.C. The Province

Royal Ottawa acquitted in case where nurse was stabbed

April 2017. A Brockville judge has acquitted the Royal Ottawa Mental Health Centre of four out of five provincial charges after a mentally ill patient stabbed a nurse multiple times in the head and neck, leaving her seriously injured. CBC News

Most Abbotsford ER workers had been subject of physical violence in 2015: report

April 2017. For the majority of those employed in the Abbotsford Regional Hospital emergency room in 2015, working as a care aide or clerk nurse meant being regularly subjected to physical or verbal violence, according to an internal risk assessment report. Abbey News

Nurses: we need government’s help

May 2017. Officials with the New Brunswick Nurses Union blasted the provincial government on Tuesday for its “minimal commitment” to beefing up workplace anti-violence legislation. The Daily Gleaner

Surveyed nurses say violence in health care increasing

June 2017. A national survey of Canada’s nurses, released today in conjunction with the CFNU’s discussion paper, Enough Is Enough: Putting a Stop to Violence in the Health Care Sector, shows that the majority believe patient safety is declining, or not improving, and workplace violence in health care is a serious and growing problem. Calgary Herald

Workplace violence comes at a steep cost for nurses, taxpayers

June 2017. 61% of nurses say they have experienced abuse, harassment or assault in the workplace in the past 12 months, according to a recent study by the Canadian Federation of Nurses Unions (CFNU). By comparison, only 15% of Canadian employees in other sectors reported experiencing abuse, harassment or assault in the workplace during the previous 24 months, according to a 2016 study by Vector Poll. Globe and Mail

A shocking history of workplace violence

June 2017. The president of the New Brunswick Nurses Union is leading a charge to have the provincial government bolster anti-violence legislation for nurses and other frontline health care professionals. The Daily Gleaner

Waypoint Centre for Mental Health Care pleads guilty in connection with stabbing

September 2017. Waypoint Centre, a mental health facility, has pleaded guilty to one charge in connection with the stabbing of a nurse. CTV News Barrie

Workplace violence plagues personal support workers

November 2017. Dr. Tamara Daly began a study in 2017 to look at working conditions in long-term care, including the levels of violence and injury for PSWs. About a decade ago, researchers found that Canadian PSWs were six times more likely to face daily violence compared to their Nordic counterparts, which translates to at least 40 per cent of PSWs in Canada experiencing workplace violence on a daily basis. Daly predicts that the violence levels have risen, and are even higher today. Toronto Star.

Violence against front-line hospital staff on rise, more protection needed: union

November 2017. A survey of almost 2,000 health care workers released by the Ontario Council of Hospital Unions (OCHU) concludes that almost 70% of respondents reported experiencing at least one incident of physical violence in the past year. The Globe and Mail

'Kicked, spat on, bit': hospital staff take stories of violence on the job to Queen's Park

November 2017. Ontario Council of Hospital Unions survey of nearly 2,000 workers found nearly 70% experienced violence in the past year. CBC News

Study details extent of violence faced by hospital workers

November 2017. Violence against health care workers is pervasive within the walls of hospitals across Ontario, suggests a study that examined the experiences of nurses, personal support workers and other staff. City News

Violence toward health care workers a concern for Health PEI

November 2017. Health PEI is concerned it is in the midst of a significant increase in violence directed toward health care workers on the Island as violent incidents grew by 40% in the first seven months of 2017-2018. CBC News